Champions League: COVID-19 enforced change gave Bayern Munich upper hand, says Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp

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Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp has claimed that six times Champions League winners, Bayern Munich were ‘a little lucky’ due to Bundesliga’s advantage.

Klopp, who started his managerial career in Germany believes that the scheduling changes enforced by the coronavirus pandemic handed the German champions the upper hand in winning the European trophy.

Klopp further stated that Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick could hardly have achieved quickly at the club, suggesting that the Bavarians were lucky to win the Champions League.

Klopp with Lewandoski at Dortmund
Klopp once coached Lewandoski at Dortmund

The 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain was Bayern’s 21st consecutive victory in all competitions. The stunning run saw them clinch a historic treble like they did seven years ago.

While admitting that the team has world-class players in every position, the Liverpool boss also thinks they got a helping hand from the Bundesliga schedule. He added that they were “a little lucky because their schedule was best suited to the Champions League, unlike other clubs.

How Bundesliga schedule favoured Bayern Munich

The Bundesliga quickly made a restart among the first of the top five European leagues after the coronavirus lockdown. So, Bayern had over a month between their DFB-Pokal final win over Bayer Leverkusen and their Champions League thrashing of Chelsea.

Although Liverpool was already out before the suspension, Chelsea only had a week to prepare for their game with Bayern after losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal.

PSG , on the other, didn’t complete their league season. But they warmed up for the Champions League with Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue final wins.

Despite his claims, the former Borussia Dortmund manager was happy to admit that Bayern is “at the moment definitely one of the absolute, absolute top teams” in the world.

“[They are] sensationally well equipped. They have absolute world-class players in every position, and all at the right age.”

Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick feels the love from his players after steering the side to the UEFA Champions League title

En route to winning the treble, Bayern had to sack Niko Kovac and replaced him with Flick in November last year. The sack of the former Bayern player came after 5-1 trashing in the hand of Eintracht Frankfurt, which left them fourth on the log.

But since Flick’s appointment, he oversaw a remarkable change in fortunes. Having been initially given the job on a temporary basis, Bayern made it permanent in April. So, the former Germany assistant manager will be looking to kick on to even more success in 2020-21.

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